Coming Events (look at the new local events entered on the REDWatch
website that are not covered here)

CUB
Site Meeting –
Saturday 11th November at 4pm (to 5:30pm) at the Mercure Hotel

The City of Sydney
has organised this public meeting to discuss the Concept Plan for the Carlton
United Brewery Site which was lodged with the NSW Department of Planning by the
site owner and which is currently on exhibition for public comment.
The website for the CUB site www.cubproject.com.au has
many documents on exhibition but it is difficult for those around the site to
get a real idea of the impact and issues raised by the proposal. This public
meeting will help people understand what is proposed so their concerns can be
raised during the exhibition. Further details of the meeting can be found on
the REDWatch website PUBLIC MEETING ON CUB CONCEPT PLAN - 11 November 2006 from
Clover’s eNEWS and CUB SITE - PUBLIC MEETING - THIS SATURDAY 4PM - MERCURE HOTEL
from the Coalition Chippendale Community Groups. An extract
from the community groups notice says:

Did you know Fosters Plans
propose:

Parking for more than 2,300
vehicles

8,000 workers/residents and hundreds of
students – more than tripling our population

Twin skyscrapers up to 120 metres high
(40 floors)

Massive towers banked back into
Chippendale

Large scale overshadowing including
much of the “park”

The demolition of the “Sunburst”
building

Tens of millions of dollars earmarked
for the Government

The meeting will be held in the Central Room,
Mercure Hotel, 818-820 George
Street Sydney, (near the bus interchange).

A protest rally has been arranged by many residents groups
from around Sydney and NSW at NSW Parliament House to protest against the
planning disasters that the Iemma Govt is imposing on local communities.
Speakers will include the AHC CEO Michael Mundine, the Greens Sylvia Hale and
the Liberals Peter Debnam. So if you are not happy about how your community is
being treated by the new planning laws or Minister Sartor then turn up at Hyde
Park or NSW Parliament on Tuesday and add your voice to the protest. Groups are
meeting in Hyde Park at 12 midday and then
marching to Parliament House. For further information contact Colleen on 0418
482 534 or Angela on 0418 112 132 or talk to Peter
Valilis or Michael Mundine at the AHC.

Under
the Redfern-Waterloo Authority Act the Minister for Redfern-Waterloo has
prepared a Contributions Plan for the levying of development contributions for
the provision of public facilities and amenities within the RWA’s Operational
Area. The Draft RWA
Contributions Plan 2006 (pdf ~1.61mb) draft
when finalised by the Minister will replace the existing South Sydney Section
94 Contributions Plan.

The
draft RWA Contributions Plan:

identifies
the percentage of the development levy (2% is proposed), what development
it applies to and how the amount is payable;

details
the expected development and demand for public facilities in the
Operational Area; and

identifies
the public facilities and amenities to be funded from contributions
collected from the draft Plan.

The Minister for Redfern-Waterloo will consider all public
submissions concerning the draft Contributions Plan in finalising the
Contributions Plan. The draft RWA Contributions Plan is on public exhibition until
8 December 2006 at the Redfern Neighbourhood Service Centre, Ground Floor,
Tower 21 Lawson Square,
Redfern. Submissions can be posted to the RWA or sent by email redfernwaterloo@rwa.nsw.gov.au
.Your email should be titled ‘Draft RWA Contributions Plan’.

The RWA’s Draft Contributions Plan (see item above) sets out
the Public Works the RWA proposes to undertake with the proposed 2% levy on
developments in the RWA State Significant area. We have posted the list of RWA Proposed Public Works as
well as the RWA Draft Proposed Public Works Map
(PDF 356Kb) on the REDWatch website. The RWA say that the Stage One of
their Built Environment Plan will increase the number of residents in the area by
3,200 and increase the number of jobs by 18,000. They have proposed $36.7
million of planned works paid for by developer levies.

$19.9 million has been proposed for “Road, Public Transport
and Access Infrastructure”, of this $15
million has been earmarked for “Traffic management on Gibbons Street to improve pedestrian
safety and amenity along street and improve traffic circulation”. We have checked this with the RWA and this
refers to Page 40 of the RWA’s Built Environment Plan which makes reference to
the RWA exploring an underpass option on Gibbons Street. The best way of achieving
a separation between pedestrian and vehicle movements however is still being
explored by the RWA so a final proposal for Gibbons Street has not been formulated. A
further $2.5 million has been earmarked for the pedestrian and cycle bridge
between the ATP and North Eveleigh with the balance $2.4 million for a new
service road in North Eveleigh and intersection upgrade work to handle traffic
to and from the North Eveleigh redevelopment.

In addition $15.5 million has been set aside for the Public
Domain works which primarily involves providing the parks and open space
detailed in the BEP. These include the Railway Station Civic space ($2.9m),
Little Eveleigh Park ($3.06m), Fan of Tracks Park ($2.85m), Traverser 1
($3.6m), North Eveleigh public garden open space ($2.11m) and Rachel Forster
open space ($0.13m). The Gibbons Street upgrade picks up another $0.55m for
short term works with $0.2m for improvements on Wilson Street and $0.1m for
“footpaths, planting, lighting and street furniture in Eveleigh Street.

It is disappointing that the only new community facility
planned is a “new childcare facility to service the new residents and workers”
although the centre is also said to be also a “multi purpose centre”. The
allocation for the centre however is only $1.2m. A further $0.1m has been
allocated for an initial study into the control of flooding and drainage but design
and construction of works are not covered as this depends on the study
findings.

The question needs to be asked as to wether the works
proposed adequately provide for the facilities needed in the community. Should
the work along Gibbons Street for example be paid for by developer levies or
should it be covered by the state government as part of its contribution to the
Redfern Railway Station Upgrade with the $15.5 million in developer levies going
to provide other much needed community facilities in the area?

We also need to ask why developments in the Eveleigh Street
Precinct only provide $100,000 worth of street improvements. The Elder’s Centre
proposed by the AHC Pemulwuy project should also be seen as a community
facility towards which developer contributions can be made. Red Square, the
opening up of the top of Eveleigh Street onto Lawson Street, which was shown in
an earlier form to the community during the RED Strategy consultations and
which continues to be worked on by the AHC should also be considered as
suitable for building through developer levies.

The Draft Contributions Plan is on exhibition until 8th
December. As can be seen from the Gibbons
Street item above the RWA’s plans are still being
developed so take the opportunity to let the RWA know what you think their
developer contributions should be spent on.

Commonwealth State Agreement on Redfern-Waterloo

We have seen it mentioned at the release of the RWA’s Built
Environment Plan and most recently in the RWA’s Update newsletter but until
this week we have not seen the actual agreement. The RWA and the Commonwealth
have agreed to our request for the agreement to be released. A PDF of the
signed agreement can be downloaded from the REDWatch website at PDF Version (Kb) or
the text
version can be read on the REDWatch website.

The agreement primarily focuses on cooperation between the
RWA for the NSW Government and the Sydney ICC of the Office for Indigenous
Policy Co-ordination for the Commonwealth to ensure the agreements objectives
will be delivered. This includes services being delivered “in accordance with the
priorities of the Redfern Waterloo Plan and in consultation with the local
Aboriginal community and the Sydney
City Council.”
The agreement makes specific reference to co-operation in four areas:
Employment and Enterprise;
Education; Indigenous Housing and The Block; Human Services and; The Redfern
Waterloo Plan.

In the meeting between the Minister and the AHC, Minister
Sartor made a number of references to the Commonwealth but did not elaborate on
his comments. Now we have seen the agreement we can see that the State and the
Commonwealth have made specific agreements concerning the Block without any
discussion with the AHC. The AHC is not happy that they were not consulted
prior to any agreement between the Commonwealth and the State Governments about
the AHC and the Block. The AHC have only found out about these agreements
concerning the Block with the release of the agreement. On the Block the
agreement states:

c) Indigenous Housing and The Block

The
Parties will work together to support the provision of affordable
Indigenous housing in Redfern-Waterloo.

The
Parties in consultation with the local Indigenous community will seek to
conclude an agreement with the Aboriginal Housing Company [AHC], the owner
of the area of land known as the Block, for the sustainable development of
the Block and its environs.

The
Parties agree that any government funding for development of the Block and
its environs will be contingent upon the production of a sustainable
vision for the site supported by both Governments, the AHC and the local
Aboriginal community

The
Parties will agree on any appropriate involvement of the City of Sydney in any
redevelopment of the Block and its environs.

If the Commonwealth
State agreement is going
to bring benefits to the local aboriginal community then the Commonwealth and
the RWA together will have to do a lot better at the “consultation with the local
Aboriginal community” than the RWA has been doing by itself to date. The
various parts of the aboriginal communities that make up Redfern-Waterloo will
also have to be partners in any agreements.

The law of diminishing returns seems to be setting in on the
Human Services Plan. We are told that the RWA has only received four
submissions for the phase 2 consultation. Submissions from NCOSS (MS Word Kb), Redfern Legal Centre (MS Word 48
Kb) and REDWatch (MS Word 71Kb) have been added to the REDWatch website so people can see
the comments submitted. The submission from the PIAC homeless persons service will
be added as soon as it is available on the REDWatch website at http://www.redwatch.org.au/RWA/humanservices/phase2paper.

We would like to think that the low level of submissions are
a result of everyone thinking the RWA had covered the area adequately but we
know from comments made to us by some of the services that the lack of response
is rather foundered in their past experience of “we put time into providing
input to the RWA but they don’t listen and nothing changes”. We now await the
final version of the HSP Phase 2 to see if the latest submissions have been
taken any more seriously.

We also hear some agencies have started to suggest to the
RWA that if they want them to be involved in meetings they should start paying
“sitting fees” so resources are not taken away from their clients as a result
of time being put into RWA meetings which are not delivering results for their
services.

The map showing the proposed Redfern and Chippendale zones
can be downloaded from the council website Map | PDF 337Kb.
Submissions should be submitted no later than Friday 22 December 2006. More
information can be found at Proposed Alcohol Free Zones

We have been advised by John Glastonbury from 3801 Ltd that
they still have not heard anything back from the Government, either the
Minister or RailCorp. It is looking like the Government is willing to let the 26th
November 2006 lease deadline pass before saying or doing anything. In the
meantime, the 3801 Ltd Board has to manage its legal obligations regarding the
Company. The issue of voluntary administration ( & timing) is a matter that
has to be carefully considered by the Board but no action has been taken to
date.

We notice that some people have been making use of the
REDWatch Discussion Forum to
make their comments on some of the Large Erecting Workshop and Heritage Rail
issues.

Many of the documents in these updates appear on the REDWatch
website as they are received so you do not have to wait the week or so for a RWIU to get all the news. By visiting
the Recent Changes section of the website http://www.redwatch.org.au/recent
you can see all the recent additions across the website. If you use RSS feeds
you can have the items delivered to your PC as they are posted.

The community BBQ’s are back. A new series of
community BBQs are planned for the City South area to provide you with safety
advice on how to better secure your home, and information on events and
activities taking place in your area. It is also a chance to meet Council
safety officers and local police. So come along and meet your neighbours!

Yes we occasionally make mistakes like when we called the ILC the
Indigenous Land Council rather than the Indigenous Land Corporation in a recent
update. In the last issue we accidentally referred to Ben
Spies-Butcher incorrectly as Spiers-Butcher. Our apologies too
Ben.

Have your say – Consultations mentioned
previously:

Below we have re-listed the
various Plans and Consultations currently open for community input:

- CUB Development on Public
Exhibition - until Monday 27th November 2006

The State Significant Site Listing and Concept Plan for redevelopment
of Carlton United Breweries Site, Chippendale (MP 06_0171) have been placed on
exhibition. Submissions must be received by Monday 27th November.
The Developer has established a website to display all the supporting documents
at www.cubproject.com.au. The Department of Planning web site
lists the exhibition notice at http://www.planning.nsw.gov.au/asp/major_projects.asp
as well as the earlier documents and Director General’s Requirements at

The City of Sydney
has placed two proposed Local Action Plans covering parts of Redfern Waterloo
on exhibition. The Inner South Local Action Plancovers the bulk
of Redfern Waterloo, while the Inner East Local Action Plan covers the Moore
Park and Surry Hills part of Redfern. The release of the action plans for
consultation follows recent public meetings on the plans. If you want to see
what is proposed in your local area’s Local Action Plan and make comment on it,
go to the pages on the website links above and download the draft plans. These
web pages also include snapshots of the area and updates on local area issues
of concern.